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Topic: Longest combs observed? (Read 6837 times)

JP, wow, I am still astounded at what the natural comb of the bees looks like. And as I said before, had absolutely no clue that they could be so big and so magnificent. Wow. Have an awesome day. Cindi

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There are strange things done in the midnight sun by the men who moil for gold. The Arctic trails have their secret tales that would make your blood run cold. The Northern Lights have seen queer sights, but the queerest they ever did see, what the night on the marge of Lake Lebarge, I cremated Sam McGee. Robert Service

Yes, bees in soffits are interesting. That is there prefered location in Florida becasue attics are to hot. I don't mind doing them I mind telling homeowners that fixing the holes I am going to make is going to be expensive.

The nice thing about soffits is they usually fit right into medium frames. :)

While that is probably the longest. I have learned not to like long comb on feral hives. One the comb is very flimsy and can break or mash into the next piece far to easily. I had a cut out at a horse stable that had comb that was about four feet long but almost six feet wide. It was a couple of hundred pounds when all was said and done. most of it was honey comb. It was a disaster to deal with. Also the bigger the hive the more bees to defend it should they get testy or I screw up. I will stick with my soffits. I have one in a cinder block wall coming up that will be very ugly. It is the first time I have accepted a job and said I am not sure we will be able to save the hive. Usually if they are in a tree trunk and I can't get to it I tell people leave them alone. Because trying to cut them out of tree trunk is next to impossible. When I take the chop saw to the block wall I have structual issues that have to be dealt with. The cut line will fill the hive with concrete dust. Removing the cut blocks will break the comb. Just an ugly job no matter what you do.

Sincerely,Brendhan

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The status is not quo. The world is a mess and I just need to rule it. Dr. Horrible

Brendhan, I've been waitin' to see you post, keep 'em coming, I'm sure you have a bunch to share. Don't envy the cinder block one, not one bit. Good luck with that one. The one I did last Tuesday, January 15, 2008 was in an eave, but the combs were all built onto one another it was a tough one and quite messy. I had to really take my time but in the end things turned out well. Have a good one.

Brendhan, JP, great, great pictures, keep 'em comin'. Love this thread!!!!! Best of a great day, Cindi

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There are strange things done in the midnight sun by the men who moil for gold. The Arctic trails have their secret tales that would make your blood run cold. The Northern Lights have seen queer sights, but the queerest they ever did see, what the night on the marge of Lake Lebarge, I cremated Sam McGee. Robert Service

Ok Cindi heres another. This is the same hive as my last pic with some of the combs removed. Wanted to show it so you could see how the bees attached the combs to the floor board and ceiling joist. A mom and her daughter lived in this house. The hive was large and it all couldn't be removed from the outside so I removed them from the inside. The honey was excellent! Have a great day!

JP, holy smokers!!! That is cool. The remnants of the wax on the ceiling look like some kind of skeleton.

A question that I keep forgetting to ask is: how do all these people that have to have bees removed from the inside of their houses, such as in the picture, know that the bees are there? I don't think I understand this, do they hear the bees or something like that? Have an awesome day, Cindi

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There are strange things done in the midnight sun by the men who moil for gold. The Arctic trails have their secret tales that would make your blood run cold. The Northern Lights have seen queer sights, but the queerest they ever did see, what the night on the marge of Lake Lebarge, I cremated Sam McGee. Robert Service

This is that same house. Most people have no idea what's inside the void space where the hive is. They just see a tiny fraction of what is there, by a few bees here or there entering the access hole leading into the hive. Sometimes they see orientating flights. Sometimes they hear buzzing.

That second hive was a weird one. They had cast several swarms before I got there and we caught one that same day when we arrived. If you look close we found a dozen or more queen cells among the comb. That day we got 1 swarm with a queen. 3 deeps full of brood and comb. And several sealed queen cells. My buddy says he ended up with 4 good hives from that mess. I watched one queen emerge as we did the cut out. Darndest thing I've ever seen.